Happy Birthday To My Main Man!

We had fun celebrating Dan's birthday this week! Just some good old-fashioned family fun!

Yummy Paula Deen Strawberry Cake with strawberry cream cheese icing... to die for!

Jayden is full of surprises... keeps us laughing all the time!

These are the men in my life... don't know what I would do without them.

Dan enjoying his birthday cards.

Jayden wanted to write on the envelope... for some reason, seeing it made me feel all mushy inside. My boys mean everything to me, and they are growing up so fast... Jayden with his straight up and down writing, insisting on calling Dan "Dad" instead of "Daddy" , trying to be all grown up... this is the "stuff" people, this is the "stuff."

What's for dinner? Some ideas...

The cooler Fall weather is inspiring me to cook up some comfort food... I might try these, or if you do, let me know how it turned out.

Homemade Sausage and Cheese Turnovers

Cheeseburger Pie

Meatloaf Cups and Mashed Potatoes

Deconstructed Broccoli and Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Slow Cooker Pork Chops

Sour Cream Pork Chops

Slow Cooker Beef Stew

Menu

Time to go grocery shopping for the week... here's my plan.

Monday- Athletic Banquet. Fast food for the boys and babysitter

Tuesday-Tacos or Taco Salad

Wednesday- Tortilla Soup

Thursday-Meatloaf

Friday- Pizza  No School Friday! Yay!!!

I love you and miss you, Mom!

What's for Dinner?

Monday- Farmers Casserole

Tuesdays- Quesadillas

Wednesday-Stuffed Shells

Thursday-Leftovers/Silly Supper

Friday- Pizza

My Curious Cupcakes

It's nearly two in the morning, and I'm waiting for my last batch of cupcakes to finish baking. Here's a picture of how they turned out. They are the for the Curious George Birthday party we're throwing for Rylan tomorrow!

Quick and Easy Dinners for this week

We have hit full-swing mode around here...our weeks are very busy with mom working full-time and then some, Dad working long days and coaching like crazy out of town on the weekends. Not to mention, we now have soccer practice, soccer games, baseball practice, and two baseball games a week from here until eternity.

Monday- Ham and Cheese Egg Bake

Tuesday- Shells and Cheese and Hotdogs

Wednesday-Broccoli and Baked Chicken

Thursday-Silly Supper (Breakfast for Dinner)

Friday-Leftovers

Saturday- Rylan's Birthday - Chuck E Cheese (me and the boys)

What's Cookin'?

Who am I cooking for? Well, for 6 people... here are three of them!
Look at Jayden's face, ya know... he's just wants to play and Mom keeps making him stop and take pictures!





I ended up barely cooking last week. We'll see how this week goes.

Sunday- Tortellini Soup, French Bread, Fruit Dip and Apples
Monday-Unstuffed Chicken Breasts (never made these last week)
Tuesday- Hamburgers and Hotdogs on the Grill
Wednesday-Creamy Chicken and Cheese Pasta Bake (made it with ham and whole wheat pasta, it was really good!)
Thursday-Leftovers, or, as we call it, "Mom's Restaurant," where everyone orders what they want.(Jayden's favorite)
Friday- Out for Pizza

Menu

What's for dinner this week?

Well, I planned out three weeks and now this week I'm not doing so great.

Maybe we'll do this... I'm going to keep it simple and try to use what we have.

Monday- Rainbow Night

Fish Sticks (I swore I'd never, but the kids love them and Mary is only eating fish right now, and we had some in the freezer), Fresh sauteed Zucchini sticks, fresh steamed carrot medallions, mini corn on the cob, fresh strawberries. We were missing purple in our rainbow, but the idea came to me as I was preparing dinner. Next time we'll add purple grapes or something.

Tuesday- Chicken Salad and Chef Salad

Wednesday - Unstuffed Chicken Breasts (Baseball Practice but hopefully I don't have to take him)

Thursday- Chilis

Friday- Pizza Night

Although I love all the comments, I wanted to say that I am doing the menu thing for myself as much as anyone else. It is helping me shop better, go against my non-planner type personality, and also catalog my favorite recipes so that I can remember what my family liked best and what recipes I used.

What's for dinner on Spring Break?

We're having a laid-back "staycation" this week since Daddy will be working all week. We think we'll have the chance to either head to Shreveport or a State Park on Wednesday, but besides that we'll be playing in the yard, going on walks, and hanging out around town! (Bryce said I needed to put an exclamation point here so it sounded more exciting!)

So,What's for dinner?

Monday- Quesadillas after Hook's Lady Hornets Softball Game
Tuesday- Meatloaf Muffins, Mashed Potatoes

I'm adding my recipe because it was a throw together and I want to remember it. As much as I hope others can use my ideas, I'm doing the food thing as much to help myself catalog recipes and plan for our meals.

Throw Together Meatloaf Muffins
2lbs ground beef/pork
1 cup soft bread crumbs
3/4 cup french fried onions
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons ketchup
a couple shakes of dried sage, thyme, and basil

Mix it all together in a large bowl and divide into 12 muffin cups. Serve with ketchup.

Wednesday-Mashed Potato Soup
Thursday- Leftovers
Friday- Pizza Night

Planning out my week...

A little late, but an A for Effort, right? It worked last week, so I'm going to give it another go. I didn't go shopping for everything yet, so it may be more of a struggle to stick with the plan this week. Here's what I'm thinking...



Monday-Cobb Salad

Tuesday-Little Caesar's Hot and Ready (Bryce has a school program)

Wednesday-Sour Cream and Chive Chicken Pasta Bowties

I've got a teenager in my house not eating meat for lent, and a husband doing South Beach, so I did the broccoli as a side and only put chicken in 3/4 of the dish. I also used two packages of farfalle, which made TONS, but I didn't double the cream cheese, as I prefer a lighter sauce. I thought the dish was "okay" the night of, the sour cream and onion taste was pretty strong to me, but I've been warming up the leftovers all weekend, and for some reason the taste was more mild after sitting in the fridge. Just to compare, next time, I'm going to use unflavored cream cheese and try low fat and see how it works.

Thursday-Leftovers (I'll be working late on a field trip with my school)

Friday-More Leftovers

Saturday- Baked Potatoes with ham and cheese

What about your family? I'm always looking for great ideas!

Menu

I am trying to be more of a planner and more organized about my family's meals. Here is what we are having this week. (This, I'm hoping, is going to force me to be more organized, since if I don't plan ahead, I'm way too tired to think about it once I get home from an emotionally and mentally exhausting day.)

Monday- Taco Salad
Tuesday- Buffalo Chicken Spaghetti
Wednesday-Frito Pie (Baseball Practice night, so it has to be quick and easy)
Thursday-Tator Tot Casserole
Friday- Make your own Pizza

I did all the shopping last night and my total bill came to $78 and some change at Super Walmart, but I did buy 3 Lunchables for my kids' lunches today, just because they don't often get them, and they get so excited! I'll let you know how it goes!

Tortellini Soup

Okay, with my third entry in a row about food, I think I may be becoming a "foodie." I am really into all the great tasting, and very inexpensive meal ideas I am finding on the blogs I follow. Tonight, I made a really good Tortellini Soup. I found the recipe here. Also, it was a very filling, meatless meal which is good for lent. All the boys (including the husband) enjoyed the soup, as did Mary, who gives up meat for lent each year.

Make Your Own Pizza Night!

Lately, all my posts relate to food. I guess I'm not suprised! Thanks, Casey, for the idea! Tonight we made our own pizzas using canned biscuits, tomato sauce, pepperoni, and mozzarella cheese! It was fun and inexpensive change-up for our Friday night pizza and a movie tradition!

The boys totally got into the whole process, overloading the dough with toppings!

I was trying to get them all to look, but only Jayden turned!
This picture makes me laugh since Jayden's head is fit perfectly under Bryce's armpit!

Action shot, very busy night at the Baird Pizzeria!!!

The finished product... Let's dig in!!!

What's for Dinner?

The nosey part of me has always wondered what other moms are doing for dinner? Dinnertime can be stressful for a working mom... and by working, I mean ALL OF US, whether we are working at home or working outside the home. Therefore, one of my favorite blog-stalking activities has been checking out posts about what other moms are making for dinner. So, I thought I'd post my first "What's for Dinner" entry. Last night, we had an Chicken Enchilada Casserole, which was a crowd-pleaser, cheap, and easy (my three main criteria for a successful meal!)

Here's how I threw it together.

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup salsa
1 1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup crushed Doritos
Flour tortillas cut into small strips
2 cups shredded cheddar

Boil chicken and cut into small pieces. Mix chicken pieces together with soup,sour cream, and salsa.
Layer chicken mixture, tortillas, and cheese like lasagna. Continue until you run out of ingredients. Spread crushed Doritos on top. Cover with foil and bake 30 minutes or until bubbly at 350.

What's for dinner at your house?